[Federal Register: July 24, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 143)]
[Notices]
[Page 43255-43256]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24jy08-86]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R6-ES-2008-N0125, 64411-9821-0031-W3]
Notice of Availability, Draft Restoration Plan and Environmental
Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability, Draft Restoration Plan and
Environmental Assessment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), on behalf of the
Department of the Interior (DOI), as the natural resource trustee,
announces the release for public review of the Draft Natural Resource
Damage Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (RP/EA) for the
Cherokee County Superfund Site, Cherokee County, Kansas. The Draft RP/
EA presents the Service's overall approach and preferred restoration
alternatives that compensate for impacts to natural resources caused by
the release of hazardous substances from former mining activities in
Cherokee County, Kansas.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before August 25, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the RP/EA are available for review during office
hours at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kansas Ecological Services
Field Office, 2609 Anderson Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502, and online
at http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/nrda/CherokeeCounty.htm. Requests
for copies of the RP/EA may be made to the same address. Copies also
will be available at the Columbus, Baxter Springs, and Galena libraries
in Cherokee County. Interested members of the public are invited to
review and comment on the RP/EA. Written comments will be considered
and addressed in the final RP/EA at the conclusion of the 30-day public
comment period. Written comments or materials regarding the RP/EA
should be sent to the Kansas Ecological Services Field Office at the
address given above.
Public Comment Availability: Before including your address, phone
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in
your comment, be advised that your entire comment--including your
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any
time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold from public
review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that
we will be able to do so.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gibran Suleiman, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Kansas Ecological Services Field Office, 2609
Anderson Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502. Interested parties also may
call 785-539-3474 ext. 114, or e-mail Gibran_Suleiman@fws.gov for
further information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The DOI, acting as natural resource Trustee, reached two different
natural resource damages settlements with Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc.
(Eagle-Picher) in 1991 and LTV Corporation (LTV) in 1986 for natural
resource
[[Page 43256]]
injuries associated with the discharge of hazardous substances at
various locations at former mining sites within the Cherokee County
Superfund Site, Cherokee County, Kansas. The discharge of hazardous
substances injured Service trust resources (migratory birds and
threatened and endangered species). The natural resource damages
settlement funds compensate for injuries at former lead and zinc mines
within the Cherokee County Superfund site and must be used to restore,
rehabilitate, replace, and/or to acquire equivalent natural resources
at various locations within Cherokee County, Kansas, and in certain
cases, in surrounding counties (e.g., Crawford, Montgomery, and Labette
Counties).
The RP/EA describes several habitat restoration alternatives. The
preferred alternatives consist of, but are not limited to, preservation
of high quality prairies and riparian areas, stream sediments dredging,
and in some cases, restoration of prairies that have been compromised
in some fashion, primarily in Cherokee County. These actions will
compensate for injuries to natural resources, including migratory
birds, and migratory bird habitat and Threatened and Endangered
Species, and are outlined and described in full in the EA/RP.
Author
The primary author of this notice is Gibran Suleiman, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Kansas Ecological Services Field Office, 2609
Anderson Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502.
Authority: The authority for this action is the Clean Water Act
(33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq.), and the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 as amended,
commonly known as Superfund (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), the Natural
Resource Damage Assessment Regulations found at 43 CFR, part 11, and
the National Environmental Policy Act. It is intended to describe
and evaluate the Trustee's proposal to restore natural resources
injured by the release of hazardous materials at the Cherokee County
Superfund Site.
Dated: May 15, 2008.
Gary G. Mowad,
Acting Regional Director, Denver, Colorado.
[FR Doc. E8-16936 Filed 7-23-08; 8:45 am]
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